Dogs - Romania

﻿﻿"Hell is Empty and All the devils are in Romania"﻿﻿

The scandalous mistreatment of Romanian stray dogs has hit headlines following the announcement of a shocking canine culling law [ click/read A, B, C]During Europe-wide protests, one individual held up the banner "Hell is Empty and All the devils are in Romania". Seen as a license to kill, news of draconian dog catchers and canine deaths via "Romanian Style" euthanasia filled the social networks and local media. The cries of the population have gone unheard, the potential psychological scarring ignored. "We will take care of them like if they were our children", said the Romanian President during his time as Mayor. With allegations of dogs being poisoned, drowned, hanged, shot, neglected, starved, plied with anti-freeze, their fragile lives ended behind closed doors where their cries cannot be heard, we ask ourselves who killed humanity?

﻿Before the killing law﻿

Despite
the fact that Romanian stray dogs have been subject to systematic
killing by the municipality for more than twenty years it has been noted
today that the number of stray dogs in Romania has not actually
fallen. The
animal protection law adopted in 2008 states: "It is forbidden to
kill healthy dogs". It advocates sterilization as a method to control
reproduction of stray dogs, but today the municipal dog shelters are
overcrowded with dogs that can not be killed, nor be given care. As a
consequence, dogs die because of diseases, injuries, fights with other
dogs, starvation and dehydration.

Ambivalence about the law is significant. The unofficial killing of stray dogs is still widespread. In residential areas poisoned food is given, traps are set in parks and dogs are beaten to death on the streets. Every month thousands of dogs also disappear from the municipal dog shelters and no one knows where they go. Some local authorities are not aware of the law, while others who know the legal text disregard the law.Municipal dog enclosures in Romania - these shelters are cruel and horrific dog prisons without any empathy for living and sentient beings. To keep and treat dogs in this way is incredibly cruel, painful and insane and should not be allowed to happen legally in an EU or European country or elsewhere.

The dogs have small or non access to food or water. They are starving, and it can take weeks or months before they are killed with a lethal injection straight into the heart - sometimes the needle hits a lung instead, and the dog have ​​to suffer for hours with convulsions before dying and evenmore cruelmethodsare usedbehind the closeddoors ofthe municipalenclosures. The dogsare seen asverminandaretreatedaccordingly -torealizesthat the problem ofstray dogsis their own fault,does not seem toexist.

In Romania
and in other countries in Europe people have dogs tied in chains - everyday
life for these dogs seem quite similar in those countries and the story
is the same. The dogs must endure their lives in too short chains,
often without any protection at all from the weather even during the
cold seasons. Many dogs are given too little food or water and starve
or freeze to death. A
dog is also a pack animal and is unhappy when lonely and isolated. Many dogs
become depressed or aggressive. The dog is also completely vulnerable
to attack by other dogs or bad people. Even if there arelaws that prohibitthis crueltreatment,ignoresthe authorities to ensurethat lawsare followed.

Many owners in Romania attaches the chain when the dog still is a puppy. The dog is chained around his neck and the chain is then anchored to something solid. The dog is often forgotten or neglected. When the dog starts to grow, the chain around the neck begins to be too small and start to grow into the dog's neck, skin and flesh and every movement is painful.

Romania, like many other European countries have also stray cats. We need an overall force on the international level to overcome the stray animal problem. The abandonedand homelessanimals are starving, get diseases, suffer accidents, are beaten. It is the obligation of all countries to help these animals that we are responsible for having ended up in this painful and uncontrollable situation